British Empire & Commonwealth Postal History Archives

New Zealand 1979 Provisionals.

THE PHILATELIC REGISTER is owned, published and edited by Ian Lasok-Smith

Contact Address: 6 Hough Green, Chester, CH4 8JG. Email: [email protected]

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Ian Lasok-Smith. Owner, Publisher and Editor “The Philatelic Register”

Philatelic Traders Society (Gold Membership)

Mauritius Packet Services

Mauritius was seized from France by Britain in 1810. The early postal history of the island group in the southern Indian Ocean has an almost mythological status.

The links below contain a few articles relating to the Packet Services running from the 1840s to the 1860s. By James Ruffle and C. Tabeart they were published in Stamp Collecting Weekly in 1975

Maritius- The Early Packet Services

Mauritius – UK Mail and the P & O: 1857-1866

New Zealand Marine Post Office Markings

Between 1850 and 1860 the amount of mail arriving in New Zealand increased markedly. Up until then all post arriving and sent from New Zealand passed via Australia. Postal rates were high and a journey to and from Great Britain could take up to five months. In 1862 the Marine Post Office was opened in Auckland, tasked to deal with all matters of marine mail.

In a series of articles published in Stamp Collecting Weekly between January 7th and February 18th 1966, J. D. Riddell discusses in significant detail the ships, deatinations, postal rates and postal markings pertaining to the New Zealand Marine Post Office.

The articles can be downloaded from the link below.

New Zealand Marine Post Office Markings

India Used in Burma, 1825-1900

Burma was created as a province of British India in 1824. The articles published in Stamp Collecting Weekly February 11th and 18th 1950 by authors J.W. Halstead and V. A. Rowe cover the Postal History during one of the most turbulent periods of this outpost of the Empire, in which there were no less than three Anglo-Burmese wars.

The articles can be downloaded from the link below

India Used in Burma, 1825-1900

India Used in Burma additional information

Some more detail on history of the wars can be found from links in the Wikipedia attachment below.

The British colonial rule in Burma lasted from 1824 to 1948, from the successive three Anglo-Burmese wars through the creation of Burma as a province of British India to the establishment of an independently administered colony, and finally independence. The region under British control was known as British Burma, and officially known as Burma from 1886. Various portions of Burmese territories, including Arakan and Tenasserim, were annexed by the British after their victory in the First Anglo-Burmese War; Lower Burma was annexed in 1852 after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The annexed territories were designated the minor province (a chief commissionership) of British Burma in 1862.

After the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885, Upper Burma was annexed, and the following year, the province of Burma in British India was created, becoming a major province (a lieutenant-governorship) in 1897. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma began to be administered separately by the Burma Office under the Secretary of State for India and Burma. British rule was disrupted during the Japanese occupation of much of the country during World War II. Burma achieved independence from British rule on 4 January 1948

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_rule_in_Burma

Rare Yemen & Sudan Cancellations and Forgeries

Major T.L.C. Tomkins was a prolific writer on matters relating to Arabian Postal History. His epic article “The Postal History of the Persian Gulf” is already in The Philatelic Record archive.

Two small pieces he wrote, appearing in the July 9th and July 23rd issues of Stamp Collecting Weekly from 1949 describe and discuss some cancellation discoveries and possible “Camel” forgeries. A small supplementary entry in the September 3rd issue of Stamp Collecting Weekly that year resolves the situation regarding the forgeries.

The articles can be downloaded from the links below.

The Story of D’Thala

Some Sudan Mysteries

An article published in the March 18th issue of Stamp Collecting Weekly by Harold G.D. Gisburn discussed the forgeries of the first definitive issue of Sudan with advice on how many of these may be readily detected.

This article can be downloaded from the link below

Forgeries of the First Sudanese Issue

Postal History of The Persian Gulf

In “Stamp Collecting Weekly” in August 1949 a series of articles which at the time was a landmark series began. The series was wriiten by Major T. L. C. Tomkins and covered the, geography, stamps and postal history of The Persian Gulf. This series of articles was serialised in The Philatelic Register in 2001 and can be downloaded from the attachments below.

The Persian Gulf – an introduction

Bahrain and Bandar Abbas

Baghdad and further Persian notes